Eight All-New England Performances Lead Men's Track & Field to Seventh at New England Championships

Vercollone earned All-New England honors for the 800m and DMR. (PHOTO BY SportsPix)

Vercollone picks up pair of All-New England honors on Saturday, while relays lead the way on day two

DORCHESTER, Mass. (February 25, 2017) – The Stonehill College men's track & field program finished the weekend with eight All-New England performances as it posted a seventh place team finish at the New England Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center today.

Sophomore Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) picked up the third and fourth All-New England honors of his career on Saturday, including his first individual performance with his seventh place finish in the 800-meter run. He posted a time of 1:54.57 today after qualifying sixth on Friday with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:53.58, which now ranks 50th nationally in Division II.

Vercollone also earned All-New England honors today as part of Stonehill's 4x800-meter relay for the second straight year, which turned in a third place finish in 7:48.93. Senior Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) ran the lead leg for the Skyhawks, while sophomore Matthew Shaw (Goffstown, New Hampshire/Goffstown) ran the next leg and then sophomore Riley Dowd (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans Memorial), before Vercollone completed the anchor leg.

Junior Mark Hamalian (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) earned All-New England honors for the first time in his career with his fourth place finish in the heptathlon as he compiled a personal-best 4,472 points. After placing second in the high jump on day one (personal-best 6-feet, 1.50-inches), he posted a pair of fifth place finishes in the 60-meter high hurdles in 9.07-seconds and pole vault by clearing 12-feet, 1.50-inches on Saturday. Hamalian also was eighth in the 1000-meter run in a personal-best 3:01.37.

Junior Jonathan Naval (Stratford, Connecticut/Bunnell) qualified for the New England Championships for the first time in his career and takes home All-New England honors by placing eighth in the triple jump by clearing a personal-best distance of 45-feet, 8-inches. He posted the distance on his third attempt.

Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay rounded out the Skyhawks All-New England performances on Saturday with an eighth place finish in 3:21.19. Collecting All-New England certificates for the Skyhawks were freshman Andrew Scarlotto (Portsmouth, New Hampshire/Portsmouth) who ran the lead leg, before handing he baton to senior All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) for the second leg, before sophomore Daniel Madsen (West Haven, Massachusetts/Notre Dame-West Haven) ran the third leg and then handed off to junior Josh Hubbell (Gloucester, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) for the anchor leg.

Naval earned All-New England honors in his first meet of the season. (PHOTO BY SportsPix)

Stonehill finished the New England Championships with 28.20 points to finish seventh in the team standings. Northeastern University took the team title with 177 points, followed by the University of Rhode Island with 114 points. The Skyhawks were third among non-Division I programs and second among Northeast-10 Conference members at the Championship.

Shaw and Baldasare also finished with two All-New England awards for the weekend as they were also part of Stonehill's 4000-meter distance medley relay that finished sixth in Friday night in 10:10.49. Sophomore Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional) ran the opening 1200-meter leg in 3:05.4, before Baldasare ran a 50.5-second split in the 400-meter leg, and then Shaw ran 800-meter leg in 1:55.7, before handing off to sophomore Christopher Drace (Franklin, New Jersey/Pope John XXIII) to complete the one mile anchor leg in 4:18.2.

Stonehill turned in two individual All-New England performances on Friday as well, led by senior Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) who captured his first career New England individual title by winning the 5000-meter run in an NCAA provisional qualifying and personal-best time of 14:41.20, earning All-New England honors in the event for the second straight year

Junior Jordan Sullivan (Sound Beach, New York/Miller Place) earned All-New England honors for the first time in his career while competing at his first New England Championship as he finished in a five-way tie for eighth place in the high jump as he cleared a height of 6-feet, 4.25-inches.

Stonehill now awaits any accepted athletes to the NCAA Division II Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, in two weeks when invites are extended to qualifiers this week. The Skyhawks are scheduled to open their outdoor season on Saturday, March 25, at the UMass Lowell Spring Invitational.